Get access to this article and to all of thebmj.com for 14 daysSign up today for a 14 day free trial

The number of deaths in England and Wales involving Clostridium difficile jumped by 72% in a year, the latest government figures show.

Death certificates that mention the infection rose from 3757 in 2005 to 6480 in 2006, while the number of deaths where C difficile was given as the underlying cause stood at 3490 in 2006, up from 2063 in the previous year.

The figures, published by the Office for National Statistics in the spring 2008 issue of Health Statistics Quarterly, also show that the number of death certificates mentioning methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) …